Clocks
by ArsenicKatnip
Summary: a short one shot I wrote out of boredom. I apologize for any and all inaccuracies.


**~I apologize for how much this sucks. It'll explain itself.~**

**Clocks**

My grandmother used to run our clock shop. She loved the ticking sound it made and how the chimes would sing every hour. She was so old that I should have known she wouldn't be able to hear it soon. Paradise can die in seconds, I've found out. One moment, my grandmother sang with the chimes and the next the ambulance sirens blared over them all.  
The hospital was too quiet. There were no friendly ticks to greet you, and every hour was only filled with whispers of the dead. The nurse told me I could see gran, but not for long. As soon as she left, gran shot out of her faked slumber and looked me in the eye.  
"Are we alone?" She whispered in a voice frail as glass.  
"Yes." I replied.  
She looks at me and says "My time has come, Robyn. I suspected it would, but not this soon. No matter, because now my gift passes on to you. The man with no name will visit the shop, and you must be there to greet him for me. Give him my regards, and give him this."  
She hands me a small pocket watch on a chain. I look down at my hands, then back to her. She smiles and lies back down.  
"That man, oh, you'll love him. He's absolutely..."  
She coughs, her eyes fluttering shut.  
"Absolutely what?" I ask, almost frantic.  
"Absolutely... Fantastic." She breathes.  
Sarah Jane Smith, my grandmother has died. I look down at the pocket watch. The word "doctor" is carved into it, along with small roses. Who is the nameless man that requires this small item?  
Weeks pass, as does the funeral. Those weeks become months, and soon almost a year has gone by, with no nameless man at all. I begin to doubt my grandmothers dying words. No strange man has presented himself, in fact, hardly anyone at all has. The clock shop is empty almost every hour of the day, and it makes me sad to see it in such a state. It seems as though the shop died along with her.  
I find myself hardly eating, and sleeping even less. I just listen to the ticking of her watch, as if it has a secret to tell me. I hardly notice the man in the blue suit enter the shop and walk up to the counter.  
"Hello, there." He smiles. "Could you tell me the date, perhaps?"  
"October 14, 2021." I reply, looking up to face him. "Anything you're looking for, sir?"  
"No, not really. Actually, now that you mention it, I am looking for a friend of mine, a Mrs. Sarah Jane Smith."  
"Oh. You must not have heard. I'm afraid she's passed on."  
Sadness fills his eyes.  
"Did you know her well?" I ask.  
"Oh, yes." He speaks, more softly than before. "We had a bit of history, her and me."  
"She may have told me about you. What's your name?"  
"I'm the Doctor."  
"Doctor who?"  
"Just the Doctor."  
And then a chord strikes in me. The man with no name is looking right at me, and I at him.  
"She- she wanted you to have this."  
I hand him the pocket watch. He takes in and turns it over in his hands, smiling.  
"It's lovely. So what's your name, then?"  
"Er, I'm Robyn. Robyn Smith. I was, well, am her granddaughter."  
His brown eyes light up a bit.  
"Well, Robyn, your grandmother told me that on this date, I was to walk into this shop and accept a gift. She also told me that I owed someone a visit. I can only assume she meant you."  
"But what do I need a doctor for."  
He grins wider than a Cheshire cat.  
"I'm not just a doctor, I'm the Doctor. Surely, she told you stories."  
"Every time I asked her who the Doctor was, she just told me I'd find out on my own someday."  
"Well, I think that some day s today. You see, your grandmother used to travel with me. We'd see all sorts of fantastic things. I think that's what she wants for you."  
"Why, though? She knows I run the shop now, I've got responsibilities here, I can't just leave."  
"Do you at least have time to let me show you something?"  
I hesitate. This man knew my grandmother, but I hardly know him. However, if gran trusted him, I suppose I can try to.  
"I... I suppose so."  
He smiles and begins to leave the shop. I follow his brisk pace and soon we arrive at an ancient-looking telephone box.  
"Go on," he nods at it. "Take a look inside."  
I look at him, then at it. It's just a box, surely it's not-  
That's when I push open the door and hold in a gasp. It's enormous.  
I turn back to face the Doctor, and he's grinning from ear to ear.  
"It's bigger on the inside!" I shout, and the words echo through the strange room.  
"I love that bit." He says, joining me.  
That's when I get a good look at him. He looks much too young to have traveled with grandma. He can't be older than 40, if that.  
"Hold on, how old are you?" I ask.  
"Well, I lost count a while back, but I think it's around nine hundred."  
I gape at him.  
"No way. You're kidding me. I'm twenty-eight, so you can't be older than thirty-five."  
He raises an eyebrow at me and pulls a stethoscope out of his pocket. He hands it to me and says "Here, listen."  
I tentatively put the earpieces in and place the other end on his chest. A steady beat replies, and I shrug.  
"What about it?"  
"Check the other side."  
I do as he says, and become confused. Another steady heartbeat lies there.  
"Two hearts? But that's impossible, just like this box thingy."  
"Actually," he says, taking back the stethoscope, "it s a TARDIS. That's short for Time and Relative Dimension in Space."  
I begin to laugh.  
"This is mad, all of this. Absolutely mad. How does it work?"  
"Do you want a go? We could go anywhere in the world, anytime."  
"Are you fooling about with me?"  
He shakes his head, and the TARDIS doors shut.  
"Then, I can't believe I'm saying this, but take me to breakfast in 1933."  
He smiles even wider, and pulls a few levers. Soon after, he says "Take a look."  
Shaking my head, I open the doors.  
People in pinstriped suits and long, beaded dresses promenade the streets, and I just stand there with my mouth open.  
"Impossible." I whisper.  
The Doctor all but materializes next to me.  
"So what do you think?"  
"You're mad, and so was gran... And so am I. This is amazing."  
He laughs a little, and it reminds me of the chimes back at the clock shop. The shop! I'd forgotten all about it, what with the 1933 business around me. It all seemed so dull now, plain old life, watching clocks tick and making change for customers. I'd always wanted some adventure, and I wanted to take chances and get messy.  
"Doctor?"  
"Hmm?"  
"You said gran traveled with you... Do you think maybe I could, I don't know, come along?"  
He chuckles again and I smile.  
"I don't know, do you really want to?"  
"God, yes, this is fantastic."  
"Well, then," He takes my hand and begins to jog toward the TARDIS, "Allons-y, my dear clock woman!"


End file.
